Entities That May Be Conducting Banking Operations in the United States Without Authorization

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has advised us that the following entity may be conducting banking business in the United States without authorization. It is reported to have a charter issued by the Republic of Palau, with an office in San Francisco, California. The entity is advertising on the Internet for depository business, and the address in Koror, Palau, is stated to be the location of the headquarters office.

The OCC has not granted a national charter to this entity, and it has not been licensed by the state of California. The State of California, Department of Financial Institutions, issued a cease and desist order to the subject on June 23, 2000. Proposed transactions involving this entity should be viewed with extreme caution.

Information about this entity also may be forwarded to the FDIC's Special Activities Section, 550 17th Street, NW, Room F-6012, Washington, DC 20429. For your reference, all FDIC Financial Institution Letters published since January of 1995 may be found on the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov under "News, Events & FOIA."